The Best Films, New and Old, to See in Dallas this Week, April 17-April 21

Every week, we find you five movies for you to check out over the coming week or weekend, from the latest wide release to weird local screenings to timely classics you can watch on your couch. Did we miss something? Let readers know in the comments.

Sunset Boulevard
Screens Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at the Texas Theatre
Fans of Billy Wilder's classic story about a fading Hollywood actress pining for the good ol' days of silent film will have three chances to see it in 35mm at the Texas Theatre. Wilder made more than his fare share of classics throughout his career, including Double Indemnity (1944), Some Like It Hot (1959) and The Apartment (1960). The late Roger Ebert called this one "the best drama ever made about the movies."

To the Wonder
Opens Friday at the Dallas Angelika
Terrence Malick's latest has been slowly making its way from the festival circuit and into a limited release. It stars Ben Affleck and Olga Kurylenko as a couple who fall in and out of love against the backdrop of Europe and Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Rachel McAdams also appears as a woman who complicates matters. Reviews have been mixed so far, but even its detractors have had a hard time denying its beautiful imagery.

Upstream Color
Opens Friday at the Dallas Angelika
Nine years ago, the self-taught writer, director, actor, cinematographer, editor and composer Shane Carruth won the top prize at Sundance for Primer, a dizzying indie about time travel that made him a name to watch out for. His fans have had a long wait for his sophomore feature, but it was worth it. Carruth's latest, which was filmed all over Dallas, is no less mystifying or dazzling. It concerns worms, pigs, Thoreau's Walden, and a budding romance between a broken, emotionally fragile man and woman (played by Carruth and Amy Seimetz). To say much more would be to spoil the surprise of this complex and visually striking follow-up.

From Up on Poppy Hill
Opens Friday at the Magnolia
For this animated film from Studio Ghibli, director Goro Miyazaki collaborated with his father, Hayao Miyazaki, the director modern animated classics like My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997) and Spirited Away (2011). It centers on a group of teenagers trying to save a school clubhouse from destruction in the runup to the 1964 Olympics. This dubbed version features the voices of Christina Hendricks, Anton Yelchin, Aubrey Plaza and Chris Noth.

Hands on a Hard Body
Screens Sunday at the Dallas Angelika
What S.R. Bindler's 1997 film sounds like it's about and what it's actually about couldn't be further apart. This simple but incisive documentary follows a group of contestants engaged in a unique contest that has them enduring long hours on their feet with very little sleep, all for the sake of winning a pickup truck. As with any other great documentary, Bindler knows how to say a lot with very little as he draws out universal truths while focusing on just a small group of people. Sunday's screening is presented by the Texas Independent Film Network.